Looking at both Amphigorey and Une Semaine De Bonté we can begin to categorize similarities and differences. Compare and contrast, if you will. First, they are both in the surrealist genre- this is obvious. Une Semaine de Bonté utilizes our associations with animals, water, traditional depictions of the feminine and other popular tropes to critique society in a manner that brings the viewer beyond, or under, reality. Surreal. The same goes for Amphigory, named for the word amphirgory- or a “nonsense verse or composition.” Indeed, many of the stories within Amphigorey reflect this- they are funny, dark, deal with sexual perversions, and make no sense. All of this falls under the definition of surrealism and surrealist themes that are present in Une Semaine de Bonté. Amphigory, though, is perhaps less critically scathing to society.
Unlike in Une Semaine de Bonté, Amphigorey tends to deal more with the mundane, linking it directly back to Freud’s sense of the uncanny. Uncanny is the idea that something that is very familiar suddenly becomes eerie with unfamiliarity. It describes that second where you don’t recognize yourself in the mirror and you think somebody is standing behind you. While elements of this appear in Une Semaine de Bonté, they are not nearly as prevalent.
